They say it's what you make, I say it's up to fate, woven in my soul
by SplatDragon
Summary: Alebrije, or Spirit Guide: a creature that, as the name suggests, guides its charge. Often, they are a pet that the person had in life. A cat or a dog, brought back just so they can continue to guide their humans. Well, she's no alebrije. Isn't even dead. But she knows what's going to happen. So if she just happens to convince Héctor that she's his alebrije, well, what's the harm?
1. Telling Dreams From One Another

A yell.

A flash of light.

Pain.

_'What… happened to me…?'_

She had to have a concussion, surely?

All the voices around them… they didn't make sense. It sounded like babbling, like nonsense, a completely foreign tongue.

_"Espera por mí, mamá!"_

Odd-sounding footsteps thundered not far from her head, sending sparks of pain running through it. Oh, oh, that hurt! She furrowed her eyebrows, curling in on herself.

_'Why is everything so loud?'_

The voices were slurring together, melting like spring snow into wordless slush, although a few shone through.

_"¡Ve más despacio!"_

"Stop!"

_"¡Regresa aquí!"_

"Excuse me!"

There was English in there? Was she starting to regain clarity? But… no, the gibberish sounded familiar, too. Too rhythmic and patterned to be true gibberish.

_"¡Oye! ¡Míralo!"_

"Be careful!"

_"¡Idiota!"_

_'Idiot...a…?' _she knew that one. She'd grown up near the border, after all, she'd have to be incredibly dense not to have picked it up. _'Oh.'_

It wasn't gibberish.

It was Spanish.

Why was she surrounded by Spanish, though?

_"¡Mamá!" _a little girl squeaked, high pitched voice like an ice pick to her skull, "look at that _alebrije_, I've never seen one like it before!"

Her Mamá sounded rather disinterested when she responded, voice that particular sort of weary that only a put-upon parent could affect, "That's nice, dear."

_'Alebrije?'_

Where had she heard that before? It sounded so, so familiar, but thinking _hurt _.

_"¡Señor! ¡Alto ahí!"_

"No thank you!"

Okay, yeah, she _definitely _knew that voice, but from where?

This was killing her, and she had to know. What had happened to her? Why did her head hurt so badly? Why was she surrounded by Spanish, and why did that word, that _voice _, sound so _familiar?_

God, did it hurt, but she forced her eyes open—and immediately closed them. Everything was so bright, so colorful and loud, nothing more than a neon, rainbow blur to her eyes. She reached up and rubbed her face, only to cringe, pulling her hand away as something pricked at her skin. _'Ow.' _More carefully this time, using the back of her hand, she rubbed at her eyes again, trying to wipe away the sleep, or whatever it was that was making everything so blurry.

_"¡Señor! _That's dangerous!"

Skeletons.

Why the _hell _were there skeletons?

And not just _skeletons_, but walking, _talking _skeletons, at that! Big skeletons, barrel-shaped and clearly having been large in life, stick-like ones that had been tall and lean. Skeletons that had clearly died at an old age, some that looked painfully young.

_'Oh, no.'_

That golden bridge, made up of thousands upon thousands upon thousands of flower petals…

_'_**_Oh_**_, no.'_

That skeleton, in the purple shirt and a blue jacket that looked to have been hastily unbuttoned…

_'No, no…'_

And then the skeleton fell into the bridge, clawing at the petals. "Come on!" he yelped, and there was no denying that voice.

_'That's Héctor goddamned Rivera!'_

She blinked.

One.

Two.

Three times.

The bridge was still there. So were the skeletons.

_'Shit!'_

Okay. This was fine. _'This is a dream. This is all a dream. There's no way that is _actually _Héctor Rivera, and there's no way that that's the marigold bridge. There's no way I'm in the Land of the Dead. I'm dreaming.'_

She took a deep breath, held it and released it, forced her anxiety and fear and tension to leave with her breath, shaking her head. Okay, this was a dream! A very, _very _realistic dream, but a dream all the same.

A dream about her favorite movie, even! Sure, it was a bit off—this didn't seem to be the same Dio de Muertos from the movie, or maybe just the dialogue was off, but still, it was her favorite movie! Why not enjoy it while it lasted?

So she stood—

Or, at least, tried to.

She got to her feet easily enough but, the moment she tried to take a step, she found herself toppling onto her stomach. "_¡Papá!" _a young woman laughed, "Look at that _alebrije_!"

Wait… _alebrije? _She'd heard that twice and yet, looking around as she clambered to her feet again, she couldn't see a single _alebrije. _In the movie they could have been anything, any animal, but they were incredibly noticeable, all bright, glowing colors.

Her eyes widened, and she looked down at herself.

Yep.

Scales.

Fuckin _scales _of all things.

If she had to be an _alebrije_, why couldn't she at least have had fur? Or feathers? Not that she's _against _reptiles, she liked them actually, but being a reptile wouldn't be half as fun.

_'...do I have _wings?' she wondered, turning her head to look and regretting it as her head throbbed. _'Please let me have wings!' _That would _definitely _make up for being a reptile!

And she did! Her eyes widened in amazement at the sight of massive, bat-like wings. _'Oh my god!' _She furrowed her brow, _'Now, how do I….' _Her wings shot out abruptly, knocking the head off of an elderly male skeleton ( _"¡Mierda!" _) and scattering a young couple across the petals. ("Maria!" "Miguel!")

_["Oops."] _she grinned sheepishly as the old-man popped his skull back onto his shoulders, glowering at her, shaking his head, ("Damned _alebrije_!") before toddling off back down the bridge at a noticeably faster pace, while 'Miguel' helped Maria get her leg back on, the pair laughing.

More carefully this time, she folded her wings against her back and then, slowly, stretched them out to their full length, giving the passing skeletons plenty of time to get out of the way. Wow that was… a lot easier than she had expected. As easy and thoughtless as stretching out her fingers.

Now, where to go from here?

Oh, wait. Duh! Héctor! He'd always been her favorite character (only barely beating out Miguel, of course), and getting to meet him in person, even if it was only as a figment of her imagination? She wouldn't miss it for the world!

Now she just had to learn to control her body long enough to get to him, of course. Which, well, easier said than done. It had been years since she'd walked around on all fours and, even then, that had been on her hands and her knees, not on her hands and her _feet_, and definitely not on her feet and her feet!

She heard more than one skeleton laugh as she took wobbly step after wobbly step, certain that she looked like a dog that had had booties put on its paws, petals crumbling beneath her feet, idly wondering if that was some sort of blasphemy, considering that they didn't give under the skeleton's feet, but this was just a dream so she didn't worry too much, instead focusing on _not _falling on her face. She almost did, a black-scaled hand tangling up with the other, but her wings flared up and she caught herself, tail flicking— _'Oh!' _and she felt like an idiot. Of course she had a tail, most animals do, and of course it was used to keep her balance!

Once she'd figured that out, she found walking to be much easier and, before long, she was bounding along the bridge, still leaping high and awkward, but skeletons laughed ("Silly _alebrije! _" "Did you see that?") and made way for her to pass. She knew she looked like a fool, but she wanted only to reach the building she had seen Héctor being dragged into.

After all, who knew when she would wake up?

**Translations:**

_Espera por mí, Mamá! -_ Wait for me, Mama!  
_¡Ve más despacio! -_ Slow down!  
_¡Regresa aquí!_ \- Get back here!  
_¡Oye! ¡Míralo! -_ Hey! Watch it!  
_¡Idiota! -_ Idiot!  
_¡Señor! ¡Alto ahí!_ \- Sir! Stop right there!  
_¡Papá! -_ Dad!  
_¡Mierda! -_ Shit!


	2. You Will Never Be The Same Again

Turns out?

Finding Héctor was _ hard_.

Damned dream.

Getting into the building was surprisingly easy. She hesitated near the lines, looking around and trying to figure out where she needed to go—Héctor had disappeared while she was trying to figure out how to walk. A skeleton in a suit had noticed her looking around, and grinned, waving her towards a wide-opened door, "This way, _ alebrije_."

Oh, helpful skeleton! [_"Thanks mister!"] _ and she bounded passed him, grinning and skidding a corner when he yelled "Left, _ alebrije_, left!"

Another skeleton waved her down a hallway, and she slowed to turn into a room, pausing. This… this wasn't right, was it? From what she remembered of the movie, Héctor should have been in an office, not in a hospital room.

But she'd been directed to a hospital room. Curtains separated beds holding skeletons, mostly unconscious, a few propped up, speaking to uniformed skeletons, others filling out paperwork. [_"What…?"] _ she looked back at the uniformed skeleton standing at the door, tilting her head in confusion. [_"Where's Héctor?"] _ What was up with her dream?

"None of those yours?" the woman asked, frowning. She hrumph'd, flicking her tail—she had a tail! How cool was that? What was her first clue?

"_Lo siento Alebrije, _I don't know what to tell you then." the guard shrugged, having the good graces to look apologetic, "maybe your partner is outside? We just had a few new arrivals leave."

_["He's not a—you can't even understand me, can you?"] _ she shrugged, and turned on her heel, plodding back the way she came. [_"Thanks for trying, man,"] _ she sighed to the guards that had tried to guide her, plodding back out, looking around for something familiar. Damn the movie for skipping between the scenes!

"We are _ not _ visiting Manny's _ ofrenda_!"

Oh. That sounded… almost familiar? It had been a bit different in the movie, but it sounded similar enough.

She began to run, before stopping when she almost scattered some poor young skeleton, slowing to a slinking walk. Thankfully, people seemed to move out of her way—naturally, considering that, for once, she seemed to be tall, eye to eye with the tallest of the skeletons.

And, as she moved, she began to recognize the room. There, the computer ('devil box', she snickered) that Imelda had destroyed, if she was right. The closet that Miguel had pulled Héctor into and—there! the stairs! Héctor would come out those stairs, right? She had to hurry, if Héctor beat her she'd _ never _ find him!

_["Excuse me!"]_

_ "¡Mierda!" _

_["Coming through!"]_

"_¡Ay! _Watch it!"

_["Sorry!"]_

"Stupid _ Alebrije_!"

_["Stupid skeleton!"]_

Her claws made an unholy sound as she dug them into the marble to try and stop, only to lose her balance, chin smacking painfully into the ground as her ass went over her head, tumbling head over tail down the stairs. Landing on her back, her wings flopped over her face, all she could do was groan, [_"Ohh, that hurt."]_

The people laughing didn't exactly help.

Wait, what?

That _ hurt! _

This was a _ dream_!

And dreams _ don't _ hurt!

She reached up and rubbed at her head, staring at her paw—black scales glistened red with blood, and touching it _ stung_.

Dreams… don't hurt.

Dreams _ don't hurt_.

She stares at the blood as it drips from her hooked talon, falling to splatter on the ground.

She knows, then, that this is no dream.

**Translations:**

Lo siento - I'm sorry  
¡Mierda! - Shit!  
¡Ay! - Oh!


	3. All I Can Trust Is This Concrete Oasis

This… wasn't a dream.

'_Oh god, this isn't a dream.'_

Oh god, she couldn't breathe.

Oh, _god_, this wasn't a dream.

God, she couldn't breathe.

"_Mamá_, is that _Alebrije_ okay?"

Oh… oh right. _Alebrije_. She… she was going to be Héctor's _Alebrije_, wasn't she?

"I'm sure they are, _querida_,"

Feet clattered on the ground, and she found herself staring up at a small, youthful skull. "_Alebrije?_" Green-gold eyes crossed trying to keep the girl in her sightline.

["_Stop calling me _Alebrije_,"_] she grumbled, flicking her tail out of her face, ["_I have a name, you know."_] Well, actually, the kid _didn't_ know, and she couldn't exactly tell her, could she?

Shit, how would she communicate with Héctor if she couldn't _talk_? This just kept getting _worse_ and _worse_.

_["Wait don't touch me-aaand you're touching me."_] the child skeleton poked her cheek with one of those disturbing fingers, and she was grateful that she had scales, so that she didn't have to feel bone against her flesh. ["_I'm up, I'm up."_] Well, she was _getting_ up, but semantics.

Getting up with so many extra limbs… yeah, hard. After rolling over and nearly tearing her wing off after stepping on it, she tumbled back onto her back with a groan, scowling up at the giggling child. ["_Oh, very funny!"_] Going from four limbs to seven was a hard adjustment, she'd admit.

Okay, tail out of the way first. She raised her head (the little girl giggled), staring at the long limb, noticing for the first time the fins near the end of her tail that looked remarkably like her wings, small and separated, almost bat-like. She attempted to flutter them like she had her wings, but only succeeded in awkwardly flailing the tip of her tail, sending the child into hysterics.

Right, tailfins can't move on their own. Good to know.

Wings next.

She stretched them out carefully, until they were spread out above her head, where she would have to make an effort to step on them.

Now to stand.

Slowly, she gathered her feet (could she still call them feet? They _did_ end with talons, after all) beneath her, shaking herself off. The leathery tip of one of her wings flopped on her face, and she grumbled, flicking it off to the child's amusement.

"María!" the child's mamá called out, "let's go, leave the poor _Alebrije_ alone! We have to go if we want to make it to your papá _and _your abuela's _ofrendas_ before sunrise."

She sighed, resigning herself as the little girl thumped her hand against her nose—it hurt! apparently she had a sensitive _nose_ now, too. "Bye-bye _Alebrije_!" the child chimed, running forward to grab at her mamá's skirts.

["_Yeah,"_] she grumbled, licking her nose without thinking, eyes going wide as she realized how long her tongue was—oh, that was disturbing! ["_Bye, kiddo."_]

Okay, this wasn't a dream. Okay, she really was a… whatever she was, she still needed to find a mirror or something. Okay, she really was in The Land of the Dead. Okay, she really was in Coco.

Well, she already _did _have a plan, even if it was a half-baked one. People already thought she was an _Alebrije_, and she wasn't a human (or, thank god, a skeleton) so she couldn't really just pass herself off as a New Arrival. So being Héctor's _Alebrije_ until she got herself figured out… well, it was as good a plan as any.

Now… now she just hoped she hadn't missed him while making a complete and utter fool of herself. '_Please!'_

If… if she had, she could find her way to ShantyTown. Hopefully. Maybe.

'_Oh please let Héctor still be inside.'_

She'd give it until sunrise, she decided. Until _Dia De Muertos_ was over. And if she hadn't seen Héctor by then, then she'd go and try and find ShantyTown.

So… now to wait.

**Translations:**

_Querida _\- my darling

_Abuela_ \- Grandma


	4. I'm Flyin' Up The Shadow Cast Is Me

She felt like a dog.

A particularly awkward, over-sized, malformed dog.

A particularly awkward, over-sized, malformed dog waiting for her master.

...Héctor better not think he was her master. Like _hell_ was _anyone _her master.

But she was sitting like a dog, reclining back on her haunches. More like a cat, she thought, with the way her tail was wrapped around her… feet? paws? her ankles, it was wrapped around her ankles. She'd mantled her wings awkwardly, after shaking the tip of one out of her eye, and played her best at being a statue.

For all of ten minutes. If that.

She amused herself with watching the various skeletons as they streamed around her, old skeletons and young skeletons, skeletons in dresses and suits, skeletons in t-shirts and jeans and spaghetti straps and booty shorts. Skeletons with grey wigs (why would people want to retain their grey hair in death?), skeletons with richly colored wigs.

But that only held her attention for so long. So she began to test out her new body, standing up and stretching, spreading her wings out (and wow, but she had a long wingspan!) Twitched and lashed her tail until she felt she had control of it, apologizing to every skeleton whose legs she knocked out from under them, and she was pretty certain she'd added some new spanish curses to her vocabulary.

Still, no matter how much she paced—and seeing people move out of her way, parting like the red sea, was admittedly very satisfying—no matter how much she stretched her wings or lashed her tail or stretched, she still felt awkward in her own skin (scales?), clunky and off-balance. It would just take some time to get used to her new body, she supposed.

"_Mierda_,"

Oh, she knew that voice!

She spun around so quickly she stumbled over her own feet, knocking a skeleton into pieces with her wing (["_Sorry mister!"]"Maldito Alebrije!" _["_Well fuck you too!"]_), eyes going wide as she saw-yes!-Héctor, stumbling down the stairs, rubbing at his upper arm.

["_Héctor! There you are! Thank god, I don't have to look for ShantyTown I would have gotten _so _lost!"_] She turned, leaping from the ledge to glide after him

and dropped like a rock.

Squawking, she flailed her legs, flapping her wings and thrashing her tail uselessly once she realized that, no, she wasn't slipping down elegantly, but plummeting down. ["_Oh god help!"_]

If it hadn't been for her wings catching air at the last second, slowing her descent, it would have been a very short non-dream.

As it were, she instead belly flopped painfully to the ground, laying there for a long moment, wheezing to catch her breath. ["_Oh, ow ow ow."_] She was _never_ going to try and fly again, wings be damned!

"Uh, _Alebrije_, you _bueno_?"

She looked up slowly, finding Héctor standing right in front of her, eyes wide with alarm. Well. At least she hadn't crushed him? That was good.

["_Not really,"_] she wheezed, before slowly hauling herself to her feet—yeah, this was a _really_ bad start. She wasn't quite so bad as Dante, but she had wanted to present herself as a _good_ _Alebrije_, a _smart Alebrije_, not an _Alebrije_ who almost crushed her charge by belly-flopping on top of him.

She staggered into a sitting position, trying to recover what was left of her dignity, folding her wings against her back and sitting tall and proud, puffing out her chest. ["_Behold! Your _Alebrije _is here!"_] '_and not going to crush you!'_

And… it completely went over his head. Fantastic."Alright, _Alebrije_, go find your person." he waved his hand back at the building, walking around her, and she frowned, tilting her head. Well, he was in a bad mood!

Well, if she'd failed to cross a bridge some eighty years in a row, she would be too.

["_I _did_! You're my person, Héctor!"_] she yelped, whirling to follow him, more than a handful of skeletons ducking down to keep from losing their heads to her wings. Her ribs ached, but she forced herself into an awkward run, people diving out of her way. ["_Héctor! Wait!"_]

Of course, he couldn't understand her, and didn't.

["_For christ's sake… HÉCTOR!"_]

**Translations:  
**_Maldito - _Damned  
_Bueno_ \- Good/Alright/Okay


	5. Will She Be The Savior of The Broken?

_["Héctor, come on! I can't run very fast yet!"]_

For a skeleton that wasn't running, he was hard to catch up to.

He was ignoring her, weaving through the crowds with ease, while she had to rely on them parting for her, which they didn't always do. Taking a corner at a run didn't go well, and it took her a long moment to untangle her limbs, getting to her feet after slamming into a brick wall.

_["Héctoooor!"]_

Idly, she couldn't help but to wonder what she sounded like—clearly they couldn't understand her, but to her it sounded like she was speaking words. Was she growling? Roaring? Squawking? Some combination of the three? Something else? She'd have to find a way to hear herself later.

At the moment, though, she needed to catch up to-

_["Héctor!"]_

She took a corner, barely managing to keep her feet under her, only to find herself nose-to-shoulder-blade with Héctor. _["Oh shit!"]_ She threw herself to the side, barely managing to keep from running into him, instead tumbling head over tail to the sound of a loud

"_¡¿Que demonios?!"_

from Héctor.

Going cross-eyed, she looked up at Héctor's startled face, grinning sheepishly, _["Heheh… hi?"] _staggering to her feet.

"What… _Alebrije_?" he gawked at her, and she had to admit that she was glad that his jaw had remained in place on his face.

_["Yup!"]_ she waved awkwardly, cutting it off abruptly when she lost her balance, ["_So… we need to talk?"]_

"Go _home_, _Alebrije_," he shook his head, pointing back towards the bridge. "Your family is probably worried about you."

Her… family.

Were they worried about her? Had she just… disappeared, vanished from sight? How much time had passed back home? Or did they just think she'd gone for a walk, or gone to take a nap?

...how would she get home?

She jolted upright, eyes going wide—where had Héctor gone?! Dammit, how was he so _slippery_?!

Lurching forward, she began to run down the alleyway, grumbling under her breath wordlessly—this one she could hear, low growls and grunts and huffs that felt odd to know that they were coming from her.

_["Héctor, stop running away from me!"]_

Okay, maybe it would be better to wait for him to be in a better mood? She nodded, scanning the crowd of skeletons until she spotted Héctor's straw hat, and began to slink through the crowd, keeping a careful distance from him.

How was she going to convince him that she was his _Alebrije_, though? She couldn't talk, probably couldn't write, so… really, communication was pretty limited.

'_Alright, figure that out when we get there,'_ she supposed, weaving around a particularly large old lady skeleton. Héctor took a sudden left, and the area started to become noticeably more dingy, less and less lit, dirtier and less taken care of.

_["We almost there?"]_ she asked him, but didn't raise her voice enough to draw his attention. _["Because my feet are starting to hurt."]_ Apparently, they were, considering that he began to clatter down a rickety wooden staircase.

'_Stairs.'_ she glared down them, mantling her wings, not trusting how they rattled and wobbled. It had supported Miguel in the movie, but Miguel was a young child, and much lighter than her, so she feared it collapsing under her.

But… she had to follow Héctor, she had no other choice, so she began to slink down the stairs slowly, stomaching scraping the wood. Oh, _oh_, she was going to fall, wasn't she?

Somehow, though, she managed to make it to solid ground without dying, and took a long moment to enjoy the feel of the cobblestone on her stomach. _["Oh, thank god. Hallelujah, praise Jesus, I'm never doing that again."]_ Looking around, though, there didn't seem to be any other way to get back up there.

Amazing. Perfectly wonderful. Fantastic.

"_¡Primo_ Héctor!"

She forced herself to straighten up, looking to see a young woman waving at him, wobbling slightly, a bottle of tequila in hand. "How'd it go?"

"Not well," a familiar voice grumbled, and her eyes went wide, turning to see a squat, sour-faced skeleton gulp down a glass of whiskey: Chicharrón! Oh, it was weird to see him up and moving around, having only seen him before when he was laying, still and fading away

Héctor waved his hand dismissively, plastering on a smile, "Eh, got pretty close! I'll make it next year for sure!"

_["No, Héctor, you won't."]_ she sighed, shaking her head and slinking forward to try and get a better look. Chicharrón didn't look quite so bad, his bones just that little bit less yellowed, his markings that little bit brighter. Still, though, he looked near the Final Death.

"Oh! What is that?" the woman asked, and she jolted, realizing she was being stared at. Had she really gotten that close? '_Oops.'_

"Eh—?" Héctor turned to her, 'eyebrows' raising in confusion, "That _Alebrije_ has been following me since the bridge, they won't leave me alone." He raised his voice, "Go _home_, _Alebrije_! Go find your people, they're worried about you."

_["Thick-headed idiot, I _am _with my person."]_ she huffed, trotting up to him before plopping down on her rear, then adjusting herself when she landed on her tail. _["_You _are my person, dipshit. How long will it take you to put two and two together?"]_ she sighed.

"See?" Héctor flailed his hand at her, "They won't leave!"

Chicharrón gave a laugh that was more 'rusty-hinge-being-forced-open-by-a-barking-dog' than 'sound of amusement'. "Looks like you got yourself an _Alebrije_, _amigo_."

"_¡¿Qué?!"_

_["Finally!"]_

**Translations:**

_¡¿Que demonios?! _\- What the Hell?!

_Primo _\- Cousin

_Amigo _\- Friend

_¡¿Qué?! _\- What?!


End file.
